The 'round and 'round of emotional eating

Lisa met her goal of losing 100 pounds by her 40th birthday, but the struggle continues. Click through to read about losing the first 100 pounds or click on the links below to read about the new challenges.More

Lisa met her goal of losing 100 pounds by her 40th birthday, but the struggle continues. Click through to read about losing the first 100 pounds or click on the links below to read about the new challenges.More

Emotional eating continues to be my biggest challenge. The particularly frustrating thing is that it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm on an emotional high or an emotional low, food is what I turn to.

Case in point: this week I experienced both ends of the spectrum – and gained 4.5 pounds.

I had an amazing weekend in store for me when I left for Daytona Beach on Friday. As one of the top fundraisers for The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer last year, I won a trip to Daytona to spend the weekend at the Rolex 24 (a 24-hour team racing event) and to meet actor/driver Patrick Dempsey.

I spent three days with a group of amazing and inspiring women (both the fundraisers and the Avon staff) and got to do all sorts of fun and unusual things like riding in a pace car around the Daytona International Speedway track and hanging out in the Dempsey Racing Pit to watch pit stops during the race.

From the moment I arrived in Daytona there was lots of talking and laughing and ooh-ing and ahh-ing… and eating and drinking.

There wouldn't have been any less talking or laughing or ooh-ing or ahh-ing if I hadn't indulged with the eating and drinking, but of course it feels like that in the moment, doesn't it?

I also had the best intentions of working out while I was away and had packed all the appropriate exercise clothes and shoes, but it just didn't happen. Saturday we had to be up and out early in the morning and Sunday, I just didn't feel like it. Some of the other women were more disciplined than I was and managed to get at least one workout in, but I let the indulgent mode stretch from one special meal to a whole three-day-weekend.

Then on Sunday afternoon I got a not-totally-unexpected phone call from my brother to say that my grandmother had passed away.

As I drove to Orlando, I ate a bag of chocolate-covered raisins. On the plane to Miami, I ate peanuts and pretzels. At dinner with my family on Monday, I figured one more "bad" meal wouldn't make that big of a difference. And after the funeral on Tuesday, we went out for typical Jewish comfort food at a local deli and I definitely took the comfort part to heart and, again, over-indulged.

I think the thing I need to remember is that there will always be excuses to over-eat and if I'm not vigilant and careful, the slip-ups will become the norm instead of the exceptions.

I need to find better ways to celebrate – and to comfort myself. And while I'm relieved that I rarely get past a week without managing to find a way to reign myself in, I need to make the periods of indulgence end even quicker.

I just realized how appropriate it is that I started this week's blog talking about the Rolex 24 which is a grueling endurance race, because that's what I'm really engaged in right now with my weight loss, a long-term competition with myself -- not a sprint. I need to remember that.

Because of the unexpected extension to my Florida trip, I'm not going to report on last week's goals. And this week, I'm going to try something new – a specific goal for each day.

Wed, 2/3: Cook dinner at homeThu, 2/4: Healthy lunch out with friendFri, 2/5: Week 2, Day 2 of Couch to 5KSat, 2/6: Limit myself to one drink while out with a friend for dinner and a showSun, 2/7: Take healthy snacks/limit "bad" at Super Bowl party; Week 2, Day 3 of C25KMon, 2/8: No snacking after 9:00 while I'm packing and getting ready for vacationTue, 2/9: Pack healthy dinner/snacks for flight to Florida; Skip cookies offered on plane

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